Lehigh News Article

Robert A. Flowers II, department chair and professor of chemistry, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)—an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

AAAS, the world’s largest general science organization, publishes Science magazine. Founded in 1848, it serves more than 260 affiliated societies and scientific academies.

Flowers, who holds the Danser Distinguished Faculty Chair in Chemistry at Lehigh, was lauded for his distinguished contributions to the field of physical organic chemistry, particularly in understanding the mechanism of single electron transfer reactions of lanthanides in important synthetic reactions.

Last May, Flowers received Lehigh’s Eleanor and Joseph F. Libsch Research Award.

Flowers was among 702 AAAS members who were named fellows because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. He will be formally recognized at AAAS’ annual meeting in February.

Earlier this year, Flowers and an international team of chemists from Germany were recognized for developing a new method for jump-starting common industrial chemical reactions with a single-electron catalyst that regenerates itself during the reaction. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.